


An Innocent Favor

by SingingInTheRaiin



Category: Lucifer (TV)
Genre: Gen, Lucifer Morningstar (Lucifer TV) Needs A Hug, Lucifer has a heart, Lucifer has the same reaction as me when it comes to being hugged by children, Post-Season/Series 01, Solving crimes, Tom Ellis has such a beautiful voice, some people deserve better
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-16
Updated: 2019-06-16
Packaged: 2020-05-12 15:48:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19232209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SingingInTheRaiin/pseuds/SingingInTheRaiin
Summary: "To his surprise, though, the kid just shook their head, and then hesitantly took a few steps closer to Lucifer, though they still left plenty of space between. 'Are you the one who does favors?'Based on what little he knew about human children, Lucifer assumed that the kid was going to ask him for chocolate or a later bedtime or a puppy. 'Will you read me a bedtime story?'"





	An Innocent Favor

It felt as though it had been ages since Lucifer had last done any proper favors. Too many bad memories, too many unforeseen consequences. Of course, he still had his reputation as a man who was there to grant favors, but he generally turned everyone away, not wanting to think about the disappointed look on Chloe’s face when she thought of him as a villain. 

So when he heard soft footsteps approaching him as he sat at the piano in the empty club, Lucifer took a deep breath and geared himself up to figure out a way to hand out a gentle rejection without damaging his good name. As he turned around to face his guest, he couldn’t help blinking a few times in surprise. Usually those that asked for his favor were quite a bit older than the kid in front of him, who looked to be around nine or ten years old.

As much as he had grown used to Trixie, and had come to accept that there were many admirable qualities about her- blackmail, cunning, lying, etc- overall Lucifer still preferred to stay away from the small humans whenever possible. He gave the child a bored look. “I believe that you’re in the wrong place. The daycare is down the street.” Actually, Lucifer was pretty sure that nobody would ever build a daycare so close to all the nightclubs in this area, but it was still a good line.

To his surprise, though, the kid just shook their head, and then hesitantly took a few steps closer to Lucifer, though they still left plenty of space between. “Are you the one who does favors?”

Well, now Lucifer was intrigued. He tilted his head slightly to the side as he gave the kid an assessing look. “Only when they sound particularly interesting. Are you here to ask a favor of me?”

Based on what little he knew about human children, Lucifer assumed that the kid was going to ask him for chocolate or a later bedtime or a puppy. The kid took another step forward, and wrapped their arms around their stomach, clearly feeling nervous. Lucifer did usually enjoy that kind of reaction to his presence, but even he wouldn’t stoop so low as to harm a child. There would be no point, because then they wouldn’t be able to grow up into the same sinful adults that were everywhere else. “Will you read me a bedtime story?”

Now normally, Lucifer would grant people favors with the knowledge that he would be owed something in the future. He had absolutely no idea what he could get out of this child in exchange for reading them a story. But Maze wasn’t around at the moment, which meant he didn’t need to worry about embarrassing himself in front of her, and something about the kid looked particularly pathetic. It would be too cruel to turn them away, even for Lucifer. And after he finished, he could just drop the kid off at Chloe’s and leave her to figure out a way to get them home.

Even after coming to that conclusion, Lucifer still wasn’t entirely sure if he wanted to do this. “Any particular reasoning behind that request?”

The kid came even closer, leaving just a couple of feet between them and Lucifer. “I’ve heard you sing before, in a YouTube video. You have a nice voice. And I get nightmares when I go to sleep without a bedtime story.” A moment passed, and then the kid hurried to pull a cellphone out of their pocket, which looked too large in those tiny hands. “And I want to record the bedtime story, so that I can listen to it again on other nights.”

Lucifer thought about it for a moment, and then finally nodded. “Very well.” He held out his hand, and waited patiently for the kid to close the remaining distance and accept the handshake. “And what story am I to read?”

The kid’s eyes widened. “I hadn’t thought about it. I didn’t think I’d even get this far, to be honest.” They thought about it for a moment. “Could you just make one up? I’m sure that whatever you come up with will be fine.”

Lucifer rolled his eyes. “So much extra work. Though to be fair, I didn’t think to ask before agreeing, so I guess that’s on me. Clever move, kid. Come on, let’s do this somewhere that I’m less likely to be interrupted. Wouldn’t want anyone else to interrupt in the middle of your recording. If I’m making this up as I go, there’s only going to be one telling of it that comes out sounding absolutely perfect.”

Lucifer pulled the piano cover back over it, and then motioned for the kid to follow him over to the elevator. Though the penthouse wasn’t guaranteed to be more private than the club itself, at least it gave the illusion of privacy. He really did need to figure out some kind of locking mechanism for the elevator at some point, though. It was starting to become a nuisance to have so many people constantly parading about in his house.

They stepped off of the elevator, and then the kid slowly looked around the room with wide eyes. “Wow. You live here? This place is like a palace!” 

Of course it was a pretty nice place, but certainly not a palace. But it was none of Lucifer’s business whether the kid was delusional or not. They both sat down on the couch, and then the kid turned on the recording app on their phone and set it down on the coffee table. Lucifer kicked off his shoes and then leaned back, tilting his head to look up at the ceiling. “Let’s see, what would be a good story?” he mused quietly. “‘Once upon a time’. That’s how they’re supposed to start, right?”

The kid shrugged. “You can start it however you want. Once upon a time is pretty good, though.”

“I suppose there’s no need to mess with a classic, then. In that case, once upon a time, there was a family that lived in the sky. But the mother and father cared not for the children, and…”

,,,

“-so the handsome prince ran away to Earth, where he hoped to find a new home, and a new family. Despite the urgings of his rather annoying brother, he insisted on staying permanently. His decision was only strengthened after he met a rather fetching princess. She did not like the prince at first, though there was no denying that she found him to be incredibly se-” Lucifer glanced at the kid, who was staring at him with wide eyes, clearly engaged in the story. “-smart. But she needed his help, and he, being the good man that he was, was obligated to help her. He had no idea that they would continue to work together…”

,,,

“-and he promised his father anything, so long as he was able to protect the princess. The end.” 

The kid narrowed their eyes, and reached out to pause the recording. “That can’t be the end!” they protested loudly. “Did the prince save the princess and her daughter? What did the prince have to give his dad? You can’t just stop there! There has to be a happy ever after!”

“What? Says who?” The kid narrowed their eyes, and put their hands on their hips. Lucifer heaved out a loud sigh, and then nodded once. “Fine, fine. I wouldn’t dare have anyone say that I don’t do as I promise.” The kid nodded in satisfaction, and then reached out to resume the recording. “The prince promised to find his missing mother, and was then able to heroically save the day. The monster was destroyed, and everyone was able to return home safely. The princess was so impressed by what happened that she kissed the prince, and then they all lived happily ever after. Happy now?”

The kid stopped the recording, and then launched themself towards Lucifer to pull him into a hug. “Thank you so much for this.”

Lucifer awkwardly patted the kid’s back, hoping that it would make them back off sooner rather than later. “Yes, well.” He didn’t know what to say, and was wondering how appropriate it would be to just pry the kid off of him and fling them away. All of his muscles stiffened as he realized that the kid was crying. This was such a nice shirt that didn’t deserve to be ruined by tear stains and snot. “What-?”

There was a noisy sniffle before the kid spoke in a shaky voice. “I haven’t been able to sleep without nightmares in weeks. My dad always used to tell me bedtime stories so that I could go to sleep, but he died and my mom doesn’t like me so she doesn’t even try to tell the stories the right way, and I was afraid that the nightmares would never stop, but then I heard your voice, and it sounds almost just like my dad’s, and-” whatever else the kid said was lost in a sea of blubbering.

Lucifer gently pulled the kid off of him. He hated that he could even relate to the little human at all, but he was no stranger to nightmares. “What do you see?”

The kid reached up to rub at their eyes, and then they answered softly. “I see my dad getting hurt. I see my mom getting mad because she didn’t want to have to take care of me. I see all the people telling me that my dad chose to leave even though I know that I never would.”

Lucifer refused to acknowledge the weird feeling in him as anything other than heartburn. He wasn’t sure if angels were susceptible to heartburn, but he was deciding right now that they were, and nobody could change his mind. 

It didn’t take long for Lucifer to drop the kid off at the police station, and asked Chloe to watch them while Lucifer took care of something important. It was easy enough to get the files he was looking for with just a few bats of his eyelashes at the file clerk. The kid’s father had apparently commited suicide via poisoning. Now Lucifer knew that humans could be quite bizarre, but he didn’t understand why anyone would choose to kill themself in such an excruciatingly painful way. 

A single persuasive conversation with the kid’s mother was all it took to get answers. She couldn’t turn herself over to the police soon enough after Lucifer made it clear what would happen if she did not. She willingly explained how she wanted to kill her husband, who had been a wealthy author of children’s books. He’d wanted to divorce her because she was a terrible mother and wife, and that meant that she would lose her chance at getting the money. 

Chloe gave Lucifer a strange look as he made his way over to her desk, but he did his best to ignore it. She was always giving him strange looks, and there was no reason for this time to be different from any of the others. Then he crouched down in front of the desk so that he could look at the kid, who was currently sitting in Chloe’s chair. “You do know how favors work, right? I’m going to collect on this someday.”

The kid nodded. “I know.”

Lucifer nodded. “Good.” Then he stood up, and dropped a small flash drive into the kid’s hands. The kid seemed to catch it out of startled reflex more than anything. When they gave him a questioning look, he just shrugged. “Readings of a few of your dad’s books. Don’t go looking too much into it. I had some free time on my hands.” He hesitated for a moment before adding, “All stories need a happily ever after, right?” Then he turned to walk away.

He wasn’t expecting the kid to fling themself at him and pull him into another hug. “Thank you so much, Lucifer.” Then they pulled back and gave him a big grin. “You’re going to get your happily ever after too!”

“Yeah, right,” Lucifer scoffed. But even his own natural pessimism couldn’t stop him from feeling just a bit of hope from those words.


End file.
